Drive to Survive: Here We Go Again
I can’t believe it’s already season 5 of Drive to Survive. And I’m also honestly surprised that we’re still able to tease some drama that I didn’t realise happened. I am going to go through the teams in alphabetical order because I think that’s just fair.
ALFA ROMEO
I’ll be honest and say I missed Valteri. I know we got a butt shot last season, but this time around, we get almost nothing. I think we got nothing. Sure, we made up for it with the Guan Yu’s crazy horrific crash at Silverstone — which I’ll never forget, but I do miss me some Bottas. It was nice to see a bit of Vasseur — given his new team this season, but not much from this team.
ALPHA TAURI
I like that they did a bit of a spotlight on Yuki and Pierre — who’s moving to Alpine. I didn’t realise how close they were (or are they?). I do find Yuki to be a bit abrasive, but he adds some nice character to the driver line-up. I wonder how Nyck DeVries coming in will help or hinder his case and whether he does come out on top? Still, the focus on him in the Suzuka track was pretty good.
ALPINE
Esteban never gets much love from me, though he seems like a perfectly nice fellow and he didn’t get much spotlight either. Of course, a lot of the focus was on Fernando leaving for Aston Martin. It’s crazy cause they came in fourth last year but I guess not a lot of storyline there. I wonder if they’ll focus a bit more now that Gasly and Ocon will be together.
ASTON MARTIN
The biggest shock for me was the lack of focus or any spotlight on Sebastian at all. It was Seb’s last season and I’m so incredibly gutted to not see any of him at all. I guess they’ll carry it over to this next season, but I’m honestly disappointed. I don’t need any Lance in my life, so that wasn’t such a loss, but the lack of Vettel was such a huge sadness. They better make up for it.
FERRARI
Now that we know how it all goes down with Mattia, the set-up of him and Guenther tasting wine up in his vineyard felt more bittersweet. But honestly, I just felt for Charles and Carlos who had everything going for them only for things to go to shit because of terrible strategy or crappy cars. I’m really rooting for the Scuderia this next season because I want a three-way fight up top.
HAAS
Guenther is ALWAYS a good idea and I like how they’re leaning in to the fact that he is the star of this show. Everyone knows he’s so showbiz and seeing him do activities out of the paddock is what I honestly look forward to. It’s also a bit sad to see Mick go, and how they quickly glossed over the driver switch but it’s nice to see Kevin back on track and next season, Nico returns! What a comeback. May Haas do well.
MCLAREN
The second saddest bit is the fact that we knew Daniel was leaving and we couldn’t do anything about it. Zak is a bit of a ham but he’s always been one and I’m honestly ok with not too much Lando — though we do get a bit of his girlfriend which I think is funny. There was so much potential to the Norris and Ricciardo team up and see it all fizzle out is just a bit sad. I hope we see Ricciardo next season somehow, somewhere.
MERCEDES
The PR machine is real because for a team I’ve hated on so much in the past, I really did feel bad for Lewis and Toto Wolff. Their PR teams work very hard. I like seeing George and his eyelashes and Carmen his girlfriend who is the tiniest thing. I was actually rooting for them a little bit. I prefer them this way, the under dogs, even if they really aren’t. What a humbling season for everyone where podiums weren’t automatic.
RED BULL
The villainisation of this team has come to fruition and the big bad wolf that is now Christian Horner is amazing to watch. See the thing is, Max is incredibly talented but just not very endearing to the press and I think that’s what’s not working for him. I wish he’d lean more into the Kelly Piquet storyline, but I get he’s all business. It’s nice to see Checo though, because see Perez is human!
WILLIAMS
And last but not the least, honestly so happy for Alex and how he’s managed some points this season. And though we got to Nicky — I really didn’t realise it. I do like Jos as team principal and his little comments here and there. I don’t know much about Logan but an American on the track will get some press so that’s always a good idea.
